Rita Wilson

Who Is Rita Wilson?

Rita Wilson is a warm and talented American actress singer and producer. She is known for her friendly smile and her love of music. People see her on the big screen and on stage and feel a sense of comfort. She brings joy to many fans with her kind heart and bright spirit.

She has a long career that spans movies TV shows and even Broadway. Her work has made her a beloved name in Hollywood. Fans enjoy her gentle humor and her caring nature. She is also respected for her skill as a producer and as a singer songwriter.

Early Life and Background

Rita Wilson was born on October 26 1956.

Career and Claim to Fame

Rita Wilson acted in many popular movies such as Volunteers Sleepless in Seattle Now and Then That Thing You Do Jingle All the Way The Story of Us Runaway Bride Its Complicated and Larry Crowne. She also appeared in television series The Good Wife and Girls. She performed on Broadway and showed her talent on stage.

Beyond acting she produced several films including My Big Fat Greek Wedding. As a singer songwriter she released the albums AM FM Rita Wilson Bigger Picture and Halfway to Home. In March 2019 she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The official website can be found at en.wikipedia.org wiki Rita Wilson

Birthday Age and Zodiac

Rita Wilson celebrates her birthday on October 26 each year. She is currently sixty nine years old. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio.

Scorpio people are known to be intense passionate and loyal. They often have a strong will and a deep sense of purpose. They are also caring and protect those they love.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Rita Wilson was born on October 26 1956 and is now sixty nine years old. She shines as a Scorpio with the traits of intensity and loyalty. She has acted in many well loved movies and TV shows and has also produced a famous film. She sings and writes songs and even earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her official website shares more about her life and work.

Fans remember her for her warm smile her kind heart and her many talents. She continues to bring joy through acting singing and producing. Her legacy lives on in the movies and music that she has shared with the world.

Rita Wilson - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Rita Wilson

Margarita Wilson Hanks (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include Volunteers (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Now and Then (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), The Story of Us (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), It's Complicated (2009), and Larry Crowne (2011), and she appeared in the television series The Good Wife and Girls. Wilson has also performed on Broadway and produced several films, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). As a singer-songwriter, Wilson has released the albums AM/FM, Rita Wilson, Bigger Picture, and Halfway to Home. In March 2019, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This profile of Rita Wilson covers Early Life and Family Background, Film, television, theater, Music, Journalism and Personal Life.

Early Life and Family Background of Rita Wilson

Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff on October 26, 1956, in Hollywood. Her mother, Dorothea Tzigkou (Greek: Δωροθέα Τζίγκου), was an ethnic Greek, raised in Sotirë near Dropull i Sipërm in Albania, close to the border with Greece. Her father, Hassan Halilov Ibrahimoff (Bulgarian: Хасан Халилов Ибрахимов; 1920–2009), was a Bulgarian Muslim (Pomak) born in Oraio (Breshtene), Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria. Her father's family moved to Bulgaria when he was a child. He later tried to leave Bulgaria several times, but was caught and placed in a labor camp that had a coal mine. He managed to escape the camp, but with a friend. He and the friend managed to make it to New York, arriving in 1949. He converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity upon his marriage and changed his name to Allan Wilson in 1960, choosing his name after a local street. The family lived in Los Angeles, where Rita Wilson's father worked as a bartender. Wilson was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith. In addition to Bulgarian, her father could speak "Russian, Turkish, Polish, Greek, a little bit of Italian, a little bit of French" according to Wilson's husband Tom Hanks, who said he modeled his portrayal of the character Viktor Navorski in the film The Terminal on his father-in-law.

Film, television, theater of Rita Wilson

Wilson's career began with a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in the 1972 episode "Greg's Triangle", where she played Pat Conway, one of the candidates running against Marcia Brady for head cheerleader. She also twice appeared on M*A*S*H in 1982 as Nurse Lacey as well as the sitcoms Three's Company and Bosom Buddies starring her future husband Tom Hanks, and as Hester Rose Crane, the deceased mother of Frasier Crane on Frasier.

In the 1980s, Wilson attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England.

She has appeared in numerous films, including Volunteers, Barbarians at the Gate, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Mixed Nuts, Sleepless in Seattle, Now and Then, That Thing You Do!, Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride, Invisible Child, The Story of Us, Raise Your Voice, It's Complicated, and Larry Crowne.

On television, she played Susan Borman, wife of astronaut Frank Borman, in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. She guest starred in many series, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Body of Proof, and had recurring roles on The Good Wife and Girls.

She was instrumental in helping actress-playwright Nia Vardalos get the movie deal for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which became the highest-grossing independent film of all time and for which she served as a producer. Wilson produced two stage productions of the play as they were developing the film. A sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which Wilson co-produced and in which she had a supporting role, was released in 2016.

Wilson's Greek heritage was honored in 2016 when the Greek Postal Service ELTA commemorated her with a stamp along with four others: filmmaker Costa-Gavras, engineer and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, journalist George Stephanopoulos, and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. In 2008, Wilson produced the film Mamma Mia!, and eight years later its sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

In 2006, Wilson made her Broadway debut when she performed the role of Roxie Hart in a revival of Chicago. In 2015, she starred in Larry David's Fish in the Dark on Broadway, from which she took a month-long hiatus to undergo a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Off-Broadway, Wilson performed in Donald Margulies' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Dinner with Friends, at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 2000, directed by Tony Award-winner Dan Sullivan. She originated the role of "Mama" in the world premier of Lisa Loomer's play, Distracted, at the Mark Taper Forum, also in Los Angeles, in 2007. Wilson played various roles in Nora and Delia Ephron's play Love, Loss, and What I Wore in 2009. She reprised the roles in the Los Angeles production at the Geffen in 2010.

In March 2020, while filming Elvis in Australia, Hanks announced through his Instagram profile that the couple had contracted COVID-19 and were experiencing minor symptoms. They were admitted to the Gold Coast University Hospital before being returned to quarantine. On March 27, Wilson and her husband returned home to Los Angeles after they recovered from the virus. The couple donated their blood antibodies for virus research.

Wilson produced the film A Man Called Otto, initially released in December 2022. Wilson became interested in producing the film after watching A Man Called Ove, the Swedish film upon which A Man Called Otto is based. The film was sold to Sony Pictures in February 2022 for $60 million, at that time the largest deal to date at the virtual European Film Market. In December, Wilson launched her production company Artistic Films, with A Man Called Otto as the company's first project.

Music

Wilson's debut solo album AM/FM was released on May 8, 2012, on Decca Records. The album featured classics from the 1960s and 70s, including a cover of "Wichita Lineman" that she performed with the song's writer-composer Jimmy Webb. She also performed a duet of "All I Have To Do Is Dream" with former Soundgarden and Audioslave musician Chris Cornell. Additional harmonies on the album are performed by Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, and Patti Scialfa (who also produced the track "Come See About Me" with Ron Aniello).

At the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC, on December 4, 2014, she performed for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and served as co-host of the event.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Wilson), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.